Boatie swims for his life as dinghy turns predator

A boatie who was tipped into Okahu Bay had to swim for his life to avoid his out-of-control dinghy.

Anthony Price had headed off from Herne Bay yesterday morning when he was flipped into the sea.

"The water was glass and I was skittling along ... absolutely as fast as the thing would go ... when I hit a little bit of a swell," said the 29-year-old. "As I did that, I went to adjust my seating and my hand slipped off the tiller, which controls the engine."

With the throttle stuck on full, the boat "bucked" and he ended up in the water, trying to avoid the 15-horsepower engine running above his head.

"I immediately knew to go below the surface because I knew the engine would be running full bore and I actually heard it go overhead."

Mr Price swam about 10m before the buoyancy of his lifejacket pulled him above the water. He surfaced to see the aluminium dinghy he had borrowed from a friend doing aerobatics.

Fearing for his safety, he started swimming.

"It goes quite fast with one person in it, but with no people in it it goes absolutely mental, so this thing was skittling around, doing figure eights and doughnuts and jumping out of the water. I just stroked as hard as I could to get away from the boat."

Staff at Auckland's Police Maritime Unit saw Mr Price trying to swim away from the boat, which looked as if it was chasing him.

They dropped their coffee and headed to the rescue, plucking Mr Price to safety before trying to control the boat, which was still running at full speed.

Maritime Sergeant John Saunders said: "It was chasing him around until he swam away from it."

The sergeant said it was a good time to remind boaties to check their boats and equipment before heading out this summer.

He urged them to install a killswitch - a safety device which allows people to cut the engine from the water.

Mr Price said there was such a switch on the engine but no cord connecting him to it so he could not stop the engine.

"Had that happened, I would have been able to swim to the boat, climb aboard and away I go, but this thing was doing its own powerboat, aerobatic number. It was bizarre. If it had come my way and I didn't get out the way, it could have easily killed me."